nb£flft$vxsx. 



James (Matt Mbite. 




HH 



I 



IK 



^ ;a ■ I ■ I ®* 
fijgfl U9DH| 

: 

H Mi 

£11 H9 'Ik 

■ISlfflRHBN 



mffl 



I 



LIBRARYJJF CONGRESS, 

Chap, -itt^ii;^,:^ 



UNITED STATES OF AMEEIOA. 




H 



m 
I 

mtMmm 
H BUDD « 



S3 HUB 

H m 

















MkI 




/£ T A T 5 7. 



^?^iy 




Y^t^ 




/ 







\ 






COMMERCIAL ADVERTISER PRESS, 
BUFFALO, N. V. 



WM. H. BORK, 
BINDER. 



James flMatt White. 



33 or n i&arc& ]4tf), )$)). 



PROFESSOR OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY, MEDICAL 
DEPARTMENT, UNIVERSITY OF BUFFALO. 

MEMBER AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 

MEMBER MEDICAL SOCIETY OF STATE OF NEW YORK. 

MEMBER AMERICAN GYNAECOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 

HONORARY FELLOW ACADEMY OF MEDICINE, NEW YORK CITY. 

HONORARY MEMBER RHODE ISLAND MEDICAL SOCIETY. 

HONORARY MEMBER GYNAECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF BOSTON. 

MEMBER ERIE COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY. 

MEMBER BUFFALO MEDICAL SOCIETY. 

LIFE MEMBER BUFFALO HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 

LIFE MEMBER BUFFALO FINE ARTS ACADEMY. 

LIFE MEMBER YOUNG MEN'S ASSOCIATION OF BUFFALO. 

PRESIDENT OF THE "CHURCH HOME." 

PRESIDENT BUFFALO CLUB. 



Kit Jttemortamu 

Professor James Platt White, M. D. 

Obiit September 28, 1881. 



This is thy triumph, cruel Death ! for he 
Who lies asleep, so stately and so grand — 
The princely peer of any in the land — 

Had often crossed his victor sword with thee, 

To vanquish thee, and set thy victims free, 

When human lives, which dire disease had spanned, 
Received new leases from his skillful hand, 

His own grand life he yielded peacefully ! 

If tears of gratitude by women shed, 

And all their praises, for his special art, 

Were gems and gold, how ample would they be 
To build a monument above his head, 

High as his fame and spotless as his heart, 

And worthy the great teacher's memory? 

— Simeon Tucker Clark. 

Lockport, N. Y. 



H flDemoir 



OF 




professor Jamea flMatt White, fID. 2>« 



PROFESSOR AUSTIN FLINT, M. D., 

AT THE MEETING OF THE MEDICAL SOCIETY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, 
HELD AT ALBANY, FEBRUARY, 1 882. 



HE late Professor James Piatt White, within a year of 
his death, said to the writer of this memoir: "I wish 
that when I am gone you would write my biography." He 
had then reached the age of threescore years and ten. He 
was the personification of healthful vigor, both of body and 
mind. It seemed reasonable to say, with reference to this 
wish, that probably he would be the survivor. Providence 
decreed otherwise, and I have the sad satisfaction of under- 
taking a compliance with what I regard as his request. The 
request was not intended as a compliment. It had no refer- 
ence to any supposed ability, as a writer of biography, for 
he knew that I had very little experience in that branch of 
literary composition. It proceeded from a confidence in the 
writer's qualification for the undertaking so far as this depends 
on a thorough knowledge of character derived from a very 
long and a very close intimacy. Our acquaintance began in 
1836; we had then just entered upon the struggle for pro- 
fessional success in the city of Buffalo. Our more intimate 



relations date from our co-operation in the establishment of 
the Medical College in that city, in 1846. For the next ten 
years, during which period we were colleagues and fellow- 
citizens, we were in almost daily intercourse, and our inti- 
mate friendship continued after that period without interrup- 
tion up to his death. It is certainly rare for a friendship, 
not involving any ties of consanguinity, to be maintained 
steadily so long and with complete unreserve in mutual con- 
fidence. Perhaps the best evidence of true friendship is en- 
tire freedom among friends in making the mental traits of 
each the subjects of discussion with each other. Our friend- 
ship was a true one, as judged by this test. These personal 
remarks seem called for in justice to the memory of my 
friend as well as to myself, after having stated his desire 
that I should be his biographer. 

Dr. White's lineage was Puritan, his ancestry in this coun- 
try extending to Peregrine White, the first male child born 
in the Plymouth Colony. He was born in Austerlitz, Colum- 
bia County, New York, March 14, 181 1. At the time of his 
death, September 28th, 1881, he was, therefore, in his 71st 
year. His grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, 
and his father, David Pierson White, in the war of 1812. His 
parents were types of the families which constitute the bone 
and sinew of this country. They removed to East Hamburg, 
in the County of Erie, in Western New York, in 18 16. This 
removal at that time was an emigration to the far West. 
They lived to see their oldest son attain to eminence. At 
the time of the removal of his father's family to Erie county, 
he was five years of age. His thirst for knowledge and his 
application to studies enabled him, with the opportunities 
within his reach, to acquire a good English, and a fair class- 



ical education. He commenced the study of law, but shortly 
resolved to enter the profession of medicine. Supplementing, 
by teaching school, the means which his father could afford, 
he carried this resolution into effect. He attended a course 
of medical lectures at Fairfield, New York, then the seat of 
a flourishing medical school, and afterward a course at the 
Jefferson Medical College, taking from the latter his degree. 

Circumstances led him into the responsibilities of medical 
practice prior to his graduation. During the prevalence of 
epidemic cholera in 1832, Buffalo and its vicinity suffered 
greatly from a visitation of that disease. Black Rock, then 
a village distinct from Buffalo, was insufficiently supplied with 
physicians. Young White, in this emergency, was solicited 
to go there as a representative of his preceptors, the two 
leading physicians of Buffalo. He acquitted himself to the 
satisfaction of the latter and of the people in the village. 
This experience had probably not a small influence in pre- 
paring him for his subsequent rapid success as a practitioner. 
It did not, however, prevent him from continuing his studies 
for two years longer, and acquiring his diploma from an in- 
stitution then, as now, ranking among the first in this country. 

Dr. White established himself as a practitioner in Buffalo 
in 1835, an d in the year following he married Mary Elizabeth, 
the only surviving daughter of the late Henry F. Penfield, 
Esq., of the town of Penfield, in New York. This matrimonial 
union was in all regards conducive to mutual happiness. 
Shortly after his marriage he met with a remarkable accident. 
Railroads had not extended in those days into Western New 
York, and traveling in a stage coach over a rough road, his 
head was jolted upward against the top of the coach with 
such force as to fracture the atlas. Fortunately there was 



no displacement of the fractured portion of the bone. He 
was, however, obliged to keep his bed for a long time, and 
eventually an entire segment of the atlas was expectorated. 
He recovered, with permanent loss of the power of rotation 
of the head upon the neck. 

Observation shows that, as a rule, very speedy progress at 
the outset of medical practice is premature and not likely 
to lead to permanent success. Dr. White's career as a prac- 
titioner was an exception to this rule. The instances are 
rare in which progress was so quick and rapid. His success 
in acquiring practice became speedily great. In a very few 
years he had in this respect outstripped not only his com- 
petitors of equal age, but his seniors. For more than forty 
years his practice was only limited by his power of endurance 
and his willingness to work. His physical capability for 
work was remarkable, and this together with energy, prompt- 
ness, self-confidence, added to real ability as a practitioner, 
secured and maintained a degree of success to which but 
few attain. He resolved at the outset to succeed, and with 
him, to resolve was to persevere and spare no efforts requi- 
site for success. 

The establishment of the Medical School at Buffalo was 
very largely due to his exertions. It was necessary to over- 
come opposition from some of the older and the most 
influential members of the medical profession in Buffalo. 
At that time the school at Geneva, New York, had large 
classes and an able Faculty. Most of the members of this 
Faculty were led to accept appointments in the Buffalo school, 
in view of its geographical and clinical advantages. Public 
interest was aroused sufficiently to obtain the funds needed for 
a substantial building. The continued prosperity of the school 



is fairly a source of pride to those who co-operated in its 
establishment. Dr. White's labors as the Professor of Ob- 
stetrics and Gynaecology were continued up to the time of his 
death. As a teacher he was direct, forcible and practical ; he 
did not aim at rhetorical or oratorical display, but his object 
was sound teaching, the value of which was to be verified 
at the bed-side. 

He was the first to introduce into this country in connection 
with didactic teaching, the clinical illustration of labor, or as 
he termed it, " Demonstrative Midwifery." The arrangements 
were made with the utmost regard for propriety and delicacy. 
The innovation, however, aroused a storm of abuse from the 
enemies of the College. A protest signed by a number of 
the medical profession in Buffalo was offered for publication 
to the editor of the " Buffalo Medical Journal," with the ex- 
pectation that it would be declined, and that the declination 
would afford an excuse for its insertion in popular journals. 
It was, however, accepted and published together with com- 
ments by the editor. The result was a combination of several 
of those who signed the protest to refuse professional associ- 
ation with Dr. White and the editor. Newspaper communi- 
cations then appeared, intended to excite public indignation 
against the author of what was denounced as an outrage upon 
decency. In a so-called religious weekly paper a most scur- 
rilous article appeared, and it was ascertained that after the 
types of the article had been distributed, one of the most 
active of the enemies of the College had paid for its being 
printed anew, and had purchased a large number of copies 
which he sent throughout the country. Dr. White then 
appealed to the Grand Jury of the county, and an indictment 
for libel followed. The trial was a cause cettbte. in which the 



facts were correctly stated under oath, and with the testimony 
of eminent medical men, laid before the profession and the 
public. The triumph was complete ; but I should not here 
refer to these reminiscences except that they serve to illus- 
trate the character of the man who was the object of pro- 
fessional jealousy, and also the truth, that persistence in 
right convictions will in the end overcome unworthy oppo- 
sition. 

In this connection may be mentioned an act which illustrated 
alike his ability as a teacher and his generosity. In 1870, 
the late Professor George T. Elliot was stricken with par- 
alysis. The late Dr. Foster Swift was appointed by the 
Faculty of the Bellevue Hospital Medical College to give his 
course of lectures on obstetrics. At the beginning of the 
lecture session, Dr. Swift was compelled to seek a more 
genial climate for the restoration of his own health. The 
College was placed in an embarrassing situation. Dr. White 
was applied to in the emergency. He at once consented to 
give the course, declining even the request that his expenses 
be borne by the College, and relinquishing the income to his 
afflicted friend, the incumbent of the Chair. The lectures 
were in the highest degree satisfactory, both to the students 
and the Faculty. 

In recognition of his distinguished position as a practi- 
tioner and teacher, he was elected in 1868 Vice-President, 
and in 1870 President of the New York State Medical Society. 
At the meeting of the American Medical Association in 1872, 
he was nominated by the delegates from the State of New 
York as a candidate for the Presidency, and in 1878 he was 
elected one of the Vice-Presidents of the Association. He 
was elected a corresponding and afterwards an honorary fellow 



of the New York Academy of Medicine. He was one of the 
Vice-Presidents of the Medical Congress assembled in Phil- 
adelphia in 1876. 

Dr. White's manifold active duties did not prevent a dili- 
gent study of medical works, more especially those treating 
of subjects pertaining to the department of medicine to which 
he was specially devoted. He contributed important improve- 
ments in practice. One of these deserving particular mention 
was the restoration of the inverted uterus in cases in which 
this distressing condition had existed for long periods. Prior 
to his demonstration of the successful treatment of those 
cases, they had been regarded as hopeless. The cases in 
which under his treatment restoration was effected, embraced 
instances in which the inversion had existed for seven, fifteen 
and twenty-two years. He was the first to demonstrate the 
feasibility of the operation, two of his cases having been 
published before the cases reported by Tyler Smith, of 
London, on behalf of whom priority has been claimed. 
Another improvement which may be mentioned related to 
the construction of the obstetrical forceps. During the last 
twenty years of his life he devoted much attention to ovari- 
otomy. He performed this operation in more than one 
hundred cases, the last operation having been performed 
shortly before his death. His reputation as an ovarotomist, 
based on the success of his operations, led to his being called 
to operate in distant parts of the country. 

He had but little leisure for literary composition, but he 
contributed from time to time, articles for medical journals 
and addresses. He entertained at times the idea of prepar- 
ing a text-book of midwifery. No one in the country was 
more competent than he to give sound practical instruction 



in that department of medicine, and had he entered upon 
the work, his pertinacity of purpose would have ensured its 
completion. The "Buffalo Medical and Surgical Journal," the 
" American Journal of the Medical Sciences," the transactions 
of the American Medical Association, of the "American Gynae- 
cological Society, of the International Medical Congress of 
1876, at Philadelphia, and of the Medical Society of the 
State of New York, contain valuable papers contributed by 
him. He was the author of the articles on Pregnancy in 
Beck's Medical Jurisprudence, edited by the late Professor 
Gilman ; and of the Life of Bard, in the Lives of Distin- 
guished American Physicians and Surgeons, edited by Pro- 
fessor Gross. 

As a speaker and debater he was ready, cogent and cour- 
teous. He participated largely in oral discussions at the 
meetings of the different associations with which he was 
connected. What he said was always to the point, and 
always commanded respectful consideration. His opinions on 
scientific questions and those of polity, well formed and well 
maintained, never failed to have much influence upon the 
minds of others. 

He was always ready for active efforts in behalf of in- 
stitutions for medical relief and for clinical instruction. He 
co-operated actively in the establishment, by the late Bishop 
Timon, of the Buffalo Hospital of the Sisters of Charity, the 
Maternity and Foundling Hospitals, and of the Providence 
Asylum for the Insane. The inception and the localization 
of the State Lunatic Asylum in Buffalo were very largely 
and perhaps chiefly due to him. Of this institution he was 
from its foundation a Manager, and afterward the President, 
until, shortly before his death, he felt compelled by the state 



of his health to relinquish the duties incident to that office. 
Nor were his interest and activity limited to medical insti- 
tutions. A zealous member of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church, he was active in behalf of all the charitable organi- 
zations connected with that denomination, and to him, more 
than to any other of its citizens, is Buffalo indebted for the 
erection of one of its finest church edifices. He had pride 
in everything relating to the prosperity and welfare of Buffalo. 
He was one of the founders of the Young Men's Association, 
of the Academy of Fine Arts and of the Historical Society 
in that city. He was eminently a public spirited citizen. 
Sanitary regulations and all improvements having reference 
to comfort and the beauty of the city, were sure to enlist 
his sympathy and co-operation. He co-operated actively in 
the efforts which secured for Buffalo its magnificent park. In 
the erection of the finest business edifice in Buffalo, which 
was completed shortly before his death, he was, as I know, 
actuated by a desire to leave a memorial which would be 
ornamental as well as useful to the city where by his pru- 
dence and sagacity his fortune had been acquired. 

Dr. White furnished an instance, certainly rare in this 
country, of wealth acquired by the practice of medicine. A 
pecuniary independence entered into his resolves at the out- 
set of his professional life. No one was more ready than 
he to heed the dictates of true charity in the bestowal of 
charitable services ; but he held that, in the absence of these 
dictates, medical, not less than other services, should be 
pecuniarily requited. He was outspoken as regards this rule 
of conduct. He often expostulated with his professional 
brethren for their neglect of self-justice in this respect. He 
argued that not only individual interests, but those of the 



profession were injured by an assumed indifference, so com- 
mon with physicians, to a proper compensation for their 
labors. He contended that the effect was an undervaluation 
in the minds of patients of the services which they had 
received. At the same time, he was not less opposed to ex- 
tortion, and it could not be said of him that he took an 
ungenerous advantage of circumstances by claiming inordinate 
fees. To do this would have been repugnant alike to his 
sentiments and his regard for justice. He did not become 
rich by parsimony. Without ostentation, his family lived in 
a manner befitting his wealth and social position. The 
hospitality which his estimable and accomplished wife, as well 
as himself, knew so well how to bestow, was unbounded. 
Twice they traveled abroad, combining with recreation the 
acquirement of useful information, and tearing himself away 
from his labors at home, he visited at different times every 
portion of our own country. 

In this biographical sketch of my departed friend, I have 
given the salient points in his life and character. They show 
superior intellectual endowments and attainments, united with 
fixedness of purpose, perseverance, good judgment, tact, un- 
usual executive ability and rectitude — mental qualities which 
ensure success and usefulness in this world. These qualities 
of the mind, to which were added vigorous health and 
physical endurance, could not fail to secure success in medi- 
cal practice, as regards not only obtaining and retaining 
patients, but in the management of cases of disease. In 
this latter sense of the term, I can speak of his success 
from ample personal knowledge. He investigated cases 
carefully, but reached conclusions with promptness and 
decision. He had no confidence in an intuitive ability to 



judge of diseases. In his therapeutics he was prompt and 
decided, without being rash or unduly bold. In the manage- 
ment of cases he was not unduly affected by unfavorable 
possibilities or probabilities. His attention was more directed 
to those which were favorable. He was always hopeful for 
the best, and as long as there was any ground for hope, he 
never relaxed his efforts. He acted under a deep sense of 
responsibility to his patients. No one ever accused him of 
indifference or neglect. These professional traits secured the 
fullest confidence on the part of the patients. Extraneous 
methods to possess their confidence were to him not needed. 
These he held in contempt. In his bearing towards his pa- 
tients he was independent. He was not a suppliant for 
confidence. He demanded it as a condition for assuming the 
responsibilities connected with the management of cases of 
disease. Of his success as a surgeon I must speak from 
the testimony of others. The important operations performed 
by him were chiefly in gynaecological surgery. They embraced, 
in addition to the large number of ovariotomies already men- 
tioned, all the operations in this province of surgical practice. 
Quoting from an article in memoriam, from the pen of Dr. 
E. N. Brush, contained in the "American Journal of Insanity," 
October, 1881 : 

" As an operator he was conservative yet bold, and with a 
fertility of resource which enabled him to readily meet emer- 
gencies as they arose. In the conduct of an operation he 
sought and listened to the suggestions of his assistants and 
others connected with the case, but once a method of pro- 
cedure determined upon, he assumed the entire direction, and 
expected of his assistants, to whom he carefully explained 
in advance all that he might desire, a prompt and intelligent 



anticipation of his wishes, without further suggestion from him. 
His manner towards his patients was such as to inspire con- 
fidence. He was accustomed to say : ' Unless I can have 
your faith that I am to do the best I can for you, I do not 
wish to do anything.' He explained frankly the results to 
be executed and the risks to be incurred, to each patient." 

I borrow from the same gracefully written article the lan- 
guage and the quotation descriptive of his personal appear- 
ance: 

"Dr. White possessed the advantages of a tall and com- 
manding figure, and a countenance which inspired confidence 
while insuring respect. His years sat lightly upon him. His 

i Was a stature undepressed in size, 
Unbent which rather seemed to rise, 
In open victory o'er the weight 
Of seventy years to loftier height.'" 

It remains to speak of his social and domestic relations. 
He was blest with that precious gift of Providence, a cheer- 
ful temperament. All his friends will recall the heartiness of 
his habitual greeting. His cheery words and manner made 
his companionship most agreeable. With the capability of 
being stern and severe, his friends could always rely upon 
his geniality. His disposition was devoid of moroseness. 
He was a steady friend, and always ready to recognize the 
obligations of friendship. An inflexible opponent, he was not 
disposed to animosity. He could easily forgive injuries. It 
gave him great satisfaction to be useful to his friends, and 
particularly to his medical brethren. He had a certain degree 
of pride as well as pleasure in pointing the way out of finan- 
cial and other difficulties, and in exerting himself in behalf 
of those who sought his assistance. His aid and counsel were 



much sought after by those in trouble. He once said to me, 
" I find that the persons who have been accustomed to abuse 
me come to me whenever they get into a scrape." And they, 
as well as his friends, could count upon his assistance. In 
social intercourse he was not less considerate of the feelings 
of others than sensitive as regards his own feelings. Although 
indefatigable in prosecuting his own interest, he rejoiced in 
opportunities for promoting the interest of others. His home 
was made happy by his genial disposition and his affectionate 
relations with his family. Quoting the words of a member 
of his household, "Whenever he entered the house, cheer came 
with him." His tastes and habits were thoroughly domestic. 
His highest enjoyments were associated with home life. 

Death came to him at an age when it is considered that 
to live much longer is to encounter mental and physical in- 
firmities which render our present existence undesirable. But 
his powers of body and mind were so well preserved, that 
his departure seemed untimely. During the past summer 
his health had suffered apparently from overwork and the 
unusually hot weather, but he appeared to have recuperated 
after spending a few weeks in the White Mountains, and he 
returned to his usual routine of labor. The giving way of 
life was sudden, brief and unexpected. It may be said of 
him that he died in harness, and I feel assured that his choice 
would have been so to die. He was spared the trial of the 
knowledge of the existence of a disease progressing slowly 
but surely to a fatal termination. His last short illness was 
unattended by much suffering. He had made every prepara- 
tion for death whenever it might come. His mind was un- 
clouded up to the last hours of his life. For these sources 
of consolation, they who remain to mourn for a temporary 



separation from one who has been called to another existence 
before them, have reason to be grateful to the Divine Disposer 
of human events. To him was vouchsafed a long, a useful 
and an honorable career fraught with happy memories. In 
this reflection there is much to console his surviving rela- 
tives. It is, however, a saying not less true than trite, that 
in order to be reconciled to such afflictions, a higher than 
human power is to be invoked.* 



*Note. — When this Memoir was written, the last sentence but one contained 
the expression "his bereaved widow and other relatives." It has been necessary 
to substitute for this expression "his surviving relatives." The late Mrs White 
is no longer a bereaved widow. She departed to rejoin her husband, January 
23d, 1882, a little less than four months after his departure. 



[Editorial in Buffalo Morning Express, September 29, 



Deatb of 3>r. Wbite. 



AT ten o'clock last evening Dr. James P. White, probably 
the oldest and certainly the most distinguished physi- 
cian in Buffalo, died. He had been seriously ill only a short 
time, and his passing away so soon was expected but a very 
little while before his death. Such facts as can be ascertained 
and presented in regard to his early life and most honorable 
career, in the brief time between our information as to the 
sad event and the hour of going to press, will be found on 
our fourth page. Here we can do little more than bear tes- 
timony to his public record and private worth, and express 
the general sentiment of sorrow that will be felt throughout 
the country by the profession of which he was so eminent a 
member, and by the people of this city where he has so long 
resided and been almost universally known as one of its 
most active, broad-minded, public-spirited, and cultivated men. 
As a teacher and practitioner of obstetrics the fame of 
Dr. White was co-extensive with his country and reached 
beyond the sea. His contributions to medical science, especi- 
ally in the record of his own original operations, have been 
regarded as of inestimable value to the world. His very last 
operation was one of a singularly important character, and 
was performed before he was fairly convalescent from a recent 
illness. It was successful. The patient was saved, but possi- 
bly at the expense of the great surgeon's life, for the excite- 
ment and fatigue combined — he was called from some dis- 
tance — brought on a relapse, and his strength never rallied 
after that. So he died, as it were, in the harness, as all the 
world's earnest workers seem to desire to die. 



And thus passes away one of the most striking figures in 
our local history. Every one knew Dr. White. His splendid 
and imposing presence, his gracious demeanor, his resolute 
character, his unflinching purpose, his noble form — as erect 
and vigorous at seventy as that of any well-preserved man 
of fifty — will remain in the memory of his fellow-citizens as 
long as they are likely to remember any personal acquaint- 
ance. There was no honor which they could bestow that he 
might not have won. He was ready in debate and an im- 
pressive speaker, with the high courage of his convictions. 
But his ambition was limited to achieving the honors of his 
profession. He was a devoted member of the Episcopal 
Church, and gave handsomely from his princely professional 
income towards her support. He was the founder of the 
University of Buffalo, and President of its Council at the time 
of his death. An ample sketch of his life would be a history 
of the medical profession in Buffalo for the last half century 
— nay, almost a history of the city itself, for there have been 
but few important public questions or enterprises since the 
corporation was established in which he did not become more 
or less interested. His last large scheme was to erect the 
most conspicuous edifice on our principal street, and it may 
well be feared that he put too much of himself, so to speak, 
into that imposing building which bears his name. 

In addition to his professional distinctions, Dr. White was, 
and for several years had been, President of the Church 
Charity Foundation, and he was a manager of that beneficent 
institution from its very humble beginning. He was one of 
the foremost of the founders of St. John's Church, and also 
of Christ Chapel, and died President of the Buffalo Club. 

A rare man in many ways, whose like we at least are not 
likely to look upon again. He leaves no children. But his 
sorrowing widow and the nephew whom he called his son, 
will have the sincere sympathy of all who know how dear 
they were to him. 



funeral Bbbrese, 

BY 

REV. LIBERTUS VAN BOKKELEN, D. D. 

TO stand at the coffin of a good and generous man, a 
faithful member of the one Holy Catholic and Apos- 
tolic Church, and before placing him away to rest, to speak 
a few loving words, moistened with tears of sorrow, fragrant 
with happy memories of sincere friendship, and comforted 
with the confidence of a holy hope, is to the Christian pastor 
and to Christian friends a privilege sweet and tender, though 
supremely sad. 

This is our privilege at this solemn moment. We cannot 
bury our dead out of our sight and leave no memorial of 
their worth. We cannot say "Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, 
dust to dust," without recording the deeds done in the body, 
while that body was joyous with life and was honored as the 
temple of the Holy Ghost. I therefore ask the indulgence of 
a few minutes, while I pay my humble tribute to the dis- 
tinguished citizen, the good physician, the faithful servant of 
Christ and the Church, for whose burial we are now assem- 
bled. I can speak from the heart, for he was to me a friend 
earnest and true, a counselor judicious and wise, a man 
strong in action and always kind, considerate, genial, and 
affectionate. When he gave his confidence, it was with the 
sincerity of a noble nature ; when he withheld it, it was 
with the dignity of a calm but positive reserve. 

To the members of the profession which he dignified and 
elevated, he was all that a large heart and a broad mind 
could make him. He was always ready to help those 
who were beginning the career in which he had achieved 
national fame. He generously gave aid and encouragement to 
those who, pushing on by his side, were striving for the 



laurels which adorn the brow of the victor. The knowledge 
and skill which he acquired were not guarded with selfish 
greed ; they were open to all. They were guides to others 
that they might do likewise. Thus, while our friend worked 
for himself, he worked for mankind ; and we are permitted 
to place upon his coffin the tribute due to a philanthropist. 
Dr. White had no secrets by which he magnified his great- 
ness, or increased the rich emoluments of a wide spread prac- 
tice. All that he knew belonged to the profession, and all 
physicians were invited to share, as they had the ability, 
in the benefits of his achievements. He was a teacher — a 
great teacher. His knowledge was scattered for the benefit 
of all who suffer from sickness, in any manner of distress, 
whether of body or mind. Hence it is that he was honored 
as the leader of his profession. His opinion was asked in 
all intricate cases ; it was freely given, and his decision was 
generally final. He was recognized as the court of last resort. 
He was a Nestor among the most learned doctors, seldom 
yielding his judgment even to the most distinguished, because 
his judgment was seldom wrong. Agamemnon said of the 
Nestor of ancient story, " Had I ten generals like Nestor I 
would soon see the walls of Troy thrown down." So of this 
Nestor who lies before the altar at which he so often knelt, 
I can say, if I interpret aright the sentiments of his medical 
brothers : " Had the science of medicine ten such practi- 
tioners as James Piatt White, its triumphs would be more 
brilliant, its blessings more abundant." 

Dr. White was known far and wide. A clergyman who 
sits near to me said, " In my Western home I heard of the 
fame of Dr. White ; and whenever I returned from a visit 
to Buffalo, friends would ask, 'Did you see Dr. White?" 
So with myself since I have been the rector of Trinity Church. 
When away from home more inquiry has been made concern- 
ing Dr. White, and more greetings sent to him than to any 
other three citizens of this populous and cultured city. 

Upon these professional triumphs I need no longer dwell. 



They are recorded in resolutions, judicious and emphatic. 
They are a part of our history. The evidence is before us 
in the large delegation of honorable gentlemen representing 
the various societies of which our brother was a member. 

Dr. White holds an eminent position among those typical 
American citizens who are rapidly passing away ; men who 
cannot be reproduced in our history. They belong to a class 
as distinct as the patriots of the Revolution. They, like the 
pioneer heroes of Athens, are Autochthones, literally sons of 
the soil. Pioneers are not begotten when civilization has 
subdued the wilderness and society has taken its cultured 
form. Dr. White worked his own way to the honors which 
clustered around him when he died. He made the ladder 
by which he climbed to distinction. He had few advantages 
of early education. He had no friend but his own genius ; 
no inspiration but his own strong will ; no arm to lean upon 
but his untiring industry. What he was in the fullness of 
years, when he stood as the intellectual peer of any citizen, 
he by the grace of God carved out of the rough but fine 
grained marble of his own individuality. Dr. White was a 
representative citizen of Buffalo. Here his career began, here 
it ends. It began fifty years ago with a manifestation of 
heroism worthy of the early martyrs. It ended earlier than 
it ought, because his services were needed to save a life, in 
saving which he sacrificed his own. When twenty-one years 
of age we find him battling against that terrible scourge, the 
Asiatic cholera, which with all its malignant virulence had 
fallen upon the village of Black Rock. The tall form 
of the young physician was seen in every house where the 
fearful disease had entered. He said, as did a heroic apostle, 
" I hold not my life of any account, as dear unto myself, so 
that I may accomplish my course." This was the keynote 
of his whole brave life. He never faltered. He was true to 
himself, true to his convictions, true to his profession, true to 
his friends. Hence, when nearly seventy-one years of age, and 
admonished by weakness of body that he needed rest, we see 



him obey the summons to go to a neighboring town and per- 
form an operation to which few were equal; a service which 
cost him his life. He died with his armor on ; died amid 
the halo of his own great exploits. He had prominent and 
influential connection with almost every work that gives dig- 
nity to Buffalo as a city of beneficence and culture. I can 
say to our citizens, " Show me any work for the public good 
of which you are proud ; any that is for the benefit of all ; 
any from which there could be no return except in the 
blessed satisfaction which comes of the feeling, 'well done, 
good and faithful servant ;' show me any such work, and you 
will find connected with it the name and benefactions of Dr. 
White." None have lived better for this city, while they have 
lived so well for themselves. No honorable man can envy 
the wealth, fame and dignity which come to such a citizen. 
Only the narrow-minded and selfish withhold their admiration 
and applause. Gladly would I enumerate these labors of 
love for the good of our beautiful city, and place them as a 
garland fragrant and brilliant upon his coffin ; but what more 
need I say to you who knew Dr. White so w r ell in the prime 
of his life, the fullness of his vigor, the completeness of his 
fame ? He was a man of kinglike form, of courtly grace, of 
genial disposition and affectionate nature, with open hand and 
kindly words, social yet domestic. He was firm as a rock 
to what he believed to be right ; and when he had made 
up his mind as to what ought to be done he was fixed as 
the everlasting hills. The opinions which he held were his 
own. He felt he had a right to them, and asked no man 
to share with him the difficulty, responsibility, or even danger 
of their advocacy. 

I turn now to those traits of character and to those works 
which brought our departed brother very near to me, and 
which make his loss heavy, his memory dear. Dr. White 
was a devout and consistent member of the Anglican Catholic 
Church. Though descended from Puritan ancestors, he was, 
in my judgment and according to my standard, a complete 



churchman ; well equipped, conservative but progressive, high 
and broad ; a lover of a dignified and esthetic ritual which 
symbolized evangelical truth. He was no sectarian. He 
could see good wherever it existed, and honored the faithful 
priests, the self-sacrificing sisters of charity whose works are 
redolent with love for the sick and the suffering, even as he 
honored those who were nearer to him in doctrine and ritual. 
He was interested in church extension. When he came to 
Buffalo there was one Episcopal church, that a wooden edifice 
of moderate dimensions where now stands the stately St. Paul's. 
To-day there are thirteen churches, and Dr. White has helped 
nearly all. He rendered good service in the conventions of 
the diocese before and after the division, and was prompt 
with counsel and gifts to aid the chief pastors, according to 
ability and opportunity. To me he is well known as a de- 
vout communicant of Trinity Church, and the wise President 
of our Church Charity Foundation. It is to his honor, and 
I trust to his eternal welfare, that I am able to say, there 
was no layman more constant in attendance upon week-day 
worship and the penitential sendees of the solemn season of 
Lent. Would, dear friends, that more of you would turn 
aside from the cares and duties of secular life and seek com- 
fort and strength in the prayers and praises of the Church. 
Dr. White loved the Church. He loved to talk with me of 
the Church, and I loved to hear him talk, so earnest was he 
in his convictions, so loyal in his duty. Alas, alas, that those 
lips are mute, those eyes are sealed. He could say of the 

Cnurch Beyond my highest joys 

I prize her heavenly ways, 

Her sweet communion, solemn vows, 

Her words of prayer and praise. 

It is hard to part with such a friend ; but God has called 
him to the Church triumphant in heaven, and we must say, 
" Thy will be done." We all mourn his loss ; not this con- 
gregation only, but the whole Church ; for as President of the 
Church Charity Foundation he was united to us all ; he was 



among us a representative man, and hence so many of my 
brethren in the ministry are here to testify to his worth. 
From the beginning of that blessed charity, Dr. White has 
worked for its interests. He alone of its officers was con- 
nected with it from its first day until now. He never grew 
weary of well doing. During the last seven years he had 
been its chief executive officer. I think that his co-workers 
of the Board of Managers here present will unite with me 
in saying that the Church is indebted to Dr. White for the 
present prosperity of its chief beneficent institution. He 
labored for it as if it depended upon him alone, and the 
orphans were his own children. By his sagacious manage- 
ment the Foundation has been lifted out of serious financial 
embarrassment, has a liberal sum towards a permanent en- 
dowment, and is firmly established in the affections of the 
members of the Church. This happy result is not only 
largely due, but as some think, wholly due to the judgment 
of him who was its President, and who cheerfully gave much 
of his valuable time to its interests. The presence of the 
orphan children to whose comfort he contributed, and for 
whom he felt a fatherly affection, sacred and beautiful, adds 
to the solemnity of these services, and appeals to every 
heart to be diligent in carrying on the work which our friend 
has laid down. Remember that it is written, "Now abideth 
Faith, Hope and Charity, but the greatest of these is 
Charity." The charity which our departed brother exercised 
on earth has opened to him the gates of Paradise. There 
he will rest in peace waiting the day when the Saviour will 
say to the redeemed, "Enter into the joy of the Lord." 

One sweetly solemn thought 
Brings to our hearts great calm : 
He is nearer home to-day, 
Nearer to the Lamb ; 

Nearer the Father's house, 
Where many mansions be ; 
Nearer the great white throne, 
Nearer the jasper sea. 



Hction of tbe Buffalo fIDebical association 
on tbe ©eatb of 2>t\ Wbite* 



THE hall of the Medical College was well filled at eight 
o'clock, the hour named for the memorial gathering. 
There were present Doctors T. F. Rochester, A. M. Barker, 

D. MacNiel, C. C. F. Gay, C. G. Stockton, Joseph Fowler, 
Edward Little, T. M. Johnson, B. H. Daggett, C. Diehl, 

B. H. Grove, H. R. Hopkins, P. H. Strong, Herman Mynter, 
James Smith, W. H. Pitt, A. R. Davidson, Thomas Lothrop, 

E. C. W. O'Brien, M. Moody, C. C. Wyckoff, F. W. Bartlett, 
J. B. Samo, William Ring, R. Hebenstreit, W. C. Phelps, 
S. W. Wetmore, Lucien Howe, John Cronyn, Miss Mary 
E. Runner, Miss Mary Berkes, A. H. Briggs, Frank O. 
Vaughn, William C. Barrett, S. H. Warren, C. L. Dayton, 

C. M. Daniels, John B. Coakley, W. H. Heath, and Henry 
Nichell. 

Dr. A. M. Barker, the President, announced the purpose 
of the assemblage in the following words : 

DR. BARKER'S REMARKS. 

Gentlemen of the Buffalo Medical Association : — It becomes my 
painful duty to announce to you formally to-night that which has 
already stirred the heart of nearly the entire population of Buffalo 
— the death of Professor James P. White. Although Dr. White had 
just passed that memorable waymark, threescore years and ten, and 
had filled up this rounded measure of life with industry and use- 
fulness, I think few of us were prepared to hear so soon of the 
departure of one we had all learned to love and respect so much. 
He was our counselor, and an ardent and reliable friend to every 
lover of his profession. He will not soon die in the memory and 
affection of the thousands he has instructed and guided in the 
profession to which he devoted the most and best of his years, and 



it can hardly seem possible that we shall see his venerable presence 
among us no more. But such is the decree of Him who doeth 
all things well. And to this wisdom and merciful dealing it becomes 
us to bow in patient though sorrowful submission. 

Ex-President of the Association Dr. Lucien Howe intro- 
duced the following resolutions as expressive of the sense of 
the meeting : 

MEMORIAL. 

Whereas, Following close upon a season of universal sorrow, it 
has seemed good to the Ruler of Events to deprive our city of 
one of her most distinguished sons, Dr. James P. White ; and 

Whereas, We, who were honored by being intimately connected 
with him as fellow-physicians and members of this Association, are 
most keenly alive to the extent of the bereavement sustained; 
therefore, 

Resolved, That in the death of Dr. White, the Buffalo Medical 
Association, the city of Buffalo, and society at large have together 
met with a loss which can scarcely be measured or fittingly ex- 
pressed. The Association mourns one of its founders, one of its 
most active and eminent members, and one whose scientific zeal 
reflects credit upon its record. The medical profession has lost a 
skillful practitioner, whose nerve and judgment were always to be 
relied upon, whose wise counsel was like a beacon light for guidance, 
and whose wide reputation added a lustre to this branch of knowl- 
edge. The city of Buffalo misses an able citizen and promoter of 
its interest in every department, and society is deprived of a man 
whose Christian example will live beyond the grave, and whose 
energies, like his Master's, were spent in the relief of suffering 
humanity. 

Resolved, That while recognizing the hand of Divine Providence, 
and submitting to the decrees of His unerring wisdom, we deplore 
the removal of our illustrious associate, while yet in the zenith of 
his fame and usefulness. 

Resolved, That our grief for his loss, and the painful void caused 
by his absence from our midst, shall be incentives to us to emulate 



his brilliant career; and, by following in his footsteps as physicians, 
in so far insure his earthly immortality. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be transmitted to his 
family, and to the medical and secular press of the city. 

Dr. Howe, in moving the adoption of the resolutions, said: 

dr. howe's remarks. 

I appreciate that we are apt to magnify the good traits of our 
departed friends. We often speak of them in terms of fulsome 
praise which they themselves would have condemned, and we, on 
sober thought, would modify. But, I think, such eulogies may be 
pardoned now as we gather about the grave of a man whose life 
was identified with the best interests of our profession. For it is a 
solemn thing in any case when a veteran, who has battled with 
death for over fifty years, at last meets him face to face, and falls 
with the armor on. We lament those who die when yet in the full 
vigor of their strength, but in addition now we honor a man whom 
we all knew well, who was the senior of us all, who was equaled 
by few and surpassed by none. Indeed, it is not too much to say 
that Dr. White attained that enviable height among physicians here 
where two men cannot stand at once, and no one man stand un- 
disturbed. He gained that position by long years of persistent 
labor in his profession, and was a good illustration of the fact that 

" The heights by great men reached and kept 
Were not attained by sudden flight ; 
But they, while their companions slept, 
Were toiling upward in the night." 

He held that position because he was strong, not simply because 
of his master mind, forever active in scientific work though it was. 
The medical world knows that full well. But we realize that he 
was pre-eminent from his own strength of character. Of a vigorous 
intellect, of indomitable will, and withal full of sympathy and real 
affection, he was a type of a manly man, which we would do well 
to imitate. And now that he is dead, we approach his grave very 
much as the savages gather about the fallen lion, to rehearse his 
deeds of prowess — even to take pride in our contests with him ; 
and if we were surpassed, to admit that it was done in a straight- 



forward, manly way. But his memory will live after him and after 
us. His name was identified with two hospitals, a medical college, 
an insane asylum, an eye infirmary, and other institutions which 
must continue long after we are dead. They will stand as monu- 
ments to perpetuate his memory for many and many a year 
in the minds of our profession and in the gratitude of suffering 
humanity. 

Dr. Davidson, in seconding the resolutions, paid the follow- 
ing tribute to his deceased friend: 

DR. DAVIDSON'S REMARKS. 

I rise to second the resolutions offered, with feelings akin to those 
caused by the death of a beloved father. Concerning Dr. White's 
pre-eminence as a physician, surgeon and teacher, and as a philan- 
thropist and Christian gentleman, there are others here who can 
pay a proper tribute in fitter words than I. As I think of Dr. 
White as my friend, one always ready to counsel, to encourage and 
to help in time of need, I am at a loss to express the feelings of 
my heart. But not only do we feel his loss most keenly on account 
of the love we bore him, but also in that we have lost one whom 
all, old and young, had been accustomed to lean upon for counsel 
in the emergencies of practice, and to take comfort from his 
advice which we knew would be sound and well considered. I be- 
lieve there is hardly a graduate among the thousands who look 
upon the school which he founded as their Alma Mater, who will 
not in their hearts cry out as the sad news reaches them : " Alas, 
my father ! " How we shall miss him ! That one grand and manly 
form will be no more seen in our midst, nor that ringing voice be 
heard in our councils or college halls. Alas! that we shall see 
his face no more on earth ; but let us rejoice in the belief, which 
no man can doubt, that he is gone to a better land, whither we 
too shall come. 

Every voice joined in the chorus of ayes as the motion 
for the adoption of the resolutions was put forth. 

Dr. Thomas F. Rochester, who was next called upon for 
an expression, replied in the following words : 



DR. ROCHESTERS REMARKS. 

I regret very much, Mr. President and gentlemen, that I was 
unable to spare a moment's time to-day for the preparation of a 
fitting tribute to our worthy and departed friend. Poets and painters 
have time and time and again depicted the tall pine tree towering over 
a forest of cedars, apparently a giant in strength, and without a 
single sign of decay; and they have also shown us how the great tree 
has tottered from its base, even on a mid-summer day when all 
was still, when no tempest was raging, and fallen prostrate without a 
moment's warning. Thus it was with this monarch among men. 
It seems but yesterday since we saw him going about, apparently 
in fair health and vigor. Now he is cut down and has ceased 
to exist among us. He it was who invited and induced me to 
come to Buffalo and cast my lot here, a step which I have 
never for a moment regretted. Dr. White was a truly great 
man in any position in which he might be placed — in the 
councils of the church, in civic matters, and in the discharge of his 
professional duties. Every one feels that a great and irreparable 
loss has been sustained. His name and his nature will not soon 
be forgotten. The great point in his character, aside from his skill, 
was a determination and energy which never allowed him to go 
back. He pressed on through every obstacle. Most of those who 
were inimical to him were so because he was greater than they. A 
practitioner of fifty-two years' standing, he was always true to legiti- 
mate medicine. He was prominent and even remarkable in all 
matters connected with medicine and surgery, in which latter he 
stood foremost, until he devoted himself particularly to the duties 
of his chair. He performed most successfully all the great opera- 
tions associated with gynaecology, having operated for ovarian tumors 
alone more than one hundred times. But his name and fame are 
especially connected with the procedure for restoration of inverted 
uterus, of long standing — which beyond all question originated with 
him, and is properly spoken of as White's method, and is recog- 
nized and practiced as such by the medical profession of the whole 
world. The speaker was with him in his second operation for this 
accident, and bears personal testimony to the wonderful skill and 
perseverance which, after many patient and exhaustive hours of 



persistent labor, was crowned with complete success. No person 
was called in consultation, both in and out of the city, as frequently 
as Dr. White, and this in all forms of disease — for the large expe- 
rience and remarkable judgment and strong common sense he 
possessed made him in all cases a most valuable counselor. He 
was certainly ambitious, but this with him should be counted a 
virtue, for his aspirations were quite as much for the profession and 
for the city as for his own exaltation ; witness the State Insane 
Asylum and the University of Buffalo, which latter, had he lived a 
few years longer, it was his intention to establish in all the depart- 
ments granted by its charter, and with him to intend was to act, 
and to act was to succeed. Of my personal relations with Dr. 
White I cannot speak without deep emotion. For more than twenty- 
eight successive years he was friend and physician to myself and 
my family. In sickness, in sorrow and in joy he shared in all our 
thoughts and feelings. During this long period but few days elapsed 
without our meeting, and alas, when it was my privilege to catch 
his last sigh and to close his eyes, I felt a void in my heart, 
which must forever, on this earth, remain unfilled. 

The next to take the floor was Dr. Wyckoff, who said : 

DR. WYCKOFF'S REMARKS. 

My acquaintance with Dr. White commenced in February, 1847, 
when I first came as a student to Buffalo. He has been an 
instructor, counselor and friend to us all. He is the last of the 
elder practitioners in Buffalo of that day. His death is indeed a 
personal loss to each and every physician in Buffalo. We all 
looked upon him as a father and as a leader in everything pertain- 
ing to the interests of our profession. His death was sudden and 
unexpected. It does not seem possible to think of him in con- 
nection with death. So vigorous and strong was he that he could 
endure more than most of us that were much younger. I have 
often wondered at his powers of endurance, and have frequently 
said to him that I feared he was overtaxing himself. Intellectually, 
he seemed to have retained all the vigor of youth. If he could 
have chosen the time and manner of his death, it would undoubt- 
edly have been in the midst of his professional labors. 



Dr. E. C. W. O'Brien had the following words of praise 
for his friend : 

DR. O'BRIEN'S REMARKS. 

Mr. President, I appreciate the sad privilege of offering my heart- 
felt tribute to the grand character of my dear, dead friend. His 
character was such as would command success in any profession. 
His mind was comprehensive and acute ; and his industry, energy and 
capacity for effective work were prodigious. His nature was broad, 
deep and self-reliant; and a magnificent physique contributed to 
make up a well-balanced and finely equipped character. He was a 
master in his profession; his skill was universally recognized, and 
his reputation was as broad as the land. He was singularly mag- 
netic, and was known for his dignified demeanor, and a benignity 
which was thoroughly calculated to inspire confidence and cheerful- 
ness in the sick chamber. He was one of whom his professional 
brethren were justly proud. He very greatly aided in the develop- 
ment of our city by all possible effort within his power, for he was 
public-spirited in the highest degree, and I do not think there were 
many public movements projected for the welfare of our citizens, 
or that could benefit suffering humanity in our midst, with which 
he was not prominently and actively identified. I believe there are 
very few, if any, members of our profession who have not called 
upon him at trying times and in critical emergencies, for counsel 
and aid. And how cheerfully ready he always was to render both. 
His friendship was possessed of that quality that when you most 
required it was the time he was sure to give you the heartiest 
demonstration of it. We will all miss him in many ways ; and it 
will be exceedingly difficult to fill his place. His death is a great 
blow, not to us alone, but to the community at large. I feel that 
I am touching but lightly upon the great character of my departed 
friend, whose death we so deeply mourn ; but I feel there are others 
who desire the time and opportunity to express their feelings in 
regard to the grievous loss which, I am sure, seems very great and 
personal to us all. 

DR. JOHN CRONYN, 

who came to the meeting in a feeble state of health him- 
self, said that his feelings were too deep for the outward 



expression of speech. Dr. White was his friend, his true 
friend for thirty-one years, and had once saved his life. 
Everything that could endear one man to another had trans- 
pired between them, and he felt unable to say more than 
this : Professor White was as kind and courteous as he was 
good and great. 

DR. C. L. DAYTON 

said : Dr. James P. White was, if ever a man was, wedded 
to his noble profession, and no operator could cut with a 
steadier hand than he when life depended upon the skill of 
the surgeon. He was one of those noble characters who 
are so rare that one felt in his presence that he was their 
superior. He was a self-made scholar and always a great 
student. I, with the hundreds who have met him in the 
sick room, desire to express this brief tribute to one whose 
loss I mourn as deeply as though he were my brother. 

Dr. Henry Nichell added a tribute in the following words: 

DR. NICHELL'S REMARKS. 

Mr. President and gentlemen, it is with profound and sincere 
regret and sorrow that I rise to pay my share of tribute of honor 
to the memory of our departed friend, Professor James P. White. 
Indeed, so much has already been said by eloquent members of 
this Society in regard to the very many excellent qualities, merits 
and virtues of the deceased great physician, that I find myself at 
a loss to utter something more in praise of his great achievements 
during his long and eventful career. I am rather painfully com- 
pelled to confine myself to lay before this fraternity my own 
lasting admiration for the deceased's eminent professional and per- 
sonal worth, and my profound feeling of grief and regret at the 
loss of such a kind friend and adviser as Professor White has 
been to me since 1850, when I had the honor first to become 
acquainted with him. His loss to the profession, the medical 
department of the University of Buffalo, and the community will be 
long and sorrowfully felt. 



Dr. J. B. Samo had the following remarks to offer: 

DR. SAMO'S REMARKS. 

Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Medical Association : — In 
rising to speak on this solemn occasion, I do so with a feeling of 
diffidence, lest I should say more or less than becomes me. But, 
sir, I feel I can say, as was said of one of old, " A great man has 
this day fallen in Israel." My acquaintance with Dr. White ante- 
dates, perhaps, that of any other physician in Buffalo, having begun 
so long ago as 1841. Even at that time, sir, he was a leading 
character in the profession. With an extensive general practice, he 
was also the surgeon par excellence of Buffalo. And permit one 
who was then fresh from the teachings and presence of Valentine 
Mott, to say that Dr. White impressed me as one having the requi- 
sites of a great surgeon ; such as good judgment, a quick perception, 
great presence of mind, versatility in resources, of immovable nerve, 
and unusual manual dexterity. But I need not dwell on these, they 
are well known to many present on this occasion. A man of great 
force of character, the influence of his suggestions upon the various 
questions pertaining to our profession were felt like leaven, impart- 
ing life and activity to them. It may seem like presumption in 
me to attempt an analysis of his professional character, yet I may 
venture to point out among its more prominent features a keen 
and unerring preception, great determination of will, great energy 
and wonderful tenacity of purpose. Among the remarkable men 
who have practiced the profession of medicine in Buffalo, Dr. 
White must be conceded a place in the foremost rank. And, sir, 
his loss creates a void in our professional life that where is the 
man can fill? "Take him for all in all, we shall not look upon 
his like again." 

DR. P. H. STRONG 

said that besides himself there was only one present, Dr. 
Samo, who was with Dr. White at the birth of the College. 
It was formed thirty-three or thirty-four years ago, and he 
could never forget the kindness that he had always received 
from that time from Dr. White. The latter's office was at 
that time on Main street, at precisely the place where the 



great White fire-proof building now stands. That it is true 
that death loves a shining mark is shown when such a 
man as Dr. White is cut off. He was a great man. The 
speaker never knew one more loyal to the profession. Dr. 
White had made himself dear to him, having been for many 
years his family physician. He could never forget the claim 
the deceased had had on those near and dear to him from 
having seen them through great straits. Dr. White was a 
leader in the profession. He was a natural leader. If he 
had been a general, the speaker was of the opinion that he 
would have been the equal of Gen. Grant. 

Dr. Rochester moved that all the members of the Associ- 
ation attend the funeral in a body. 
Carried. 

At the request of the family, two old students under Dr. 
White, Drs. William Ring and L. P. Dayton, were appointed 
pall-bearers. 

Dr. Van Peyma took the floor for a few moments to add 
a few words in commendation of the generous nature of the 
deceased, and said : 

DR. VAN PEYMA'S REMARKS. 

Mr. President, I desire simply to express my sorrow at the death 
of Dr. White. He was a man to whom a large number of the 
younger members of the profession justly feel indebted for endorse- 
ment, encouragement, and material aid. These he freely gave, not 
thinking it necessary to put out the lesser lights that his might 
shine the brighter. On the contrary, while zealous of his own rep- 
utation, he guarded those of his friends. In his ambition he looked 
within himself and relied upon his own sterling qualities for advance- 
ment. His efforts have received their reward in a reputation that 
few can hope to rival. And it can truthfully be added, that in 
helping himself he helped those about him ; in his rising they were 
lifted up. The appreciation of our loss in the death of such a man 
will continue to increase for many a day to come. 



The only letter of regret from absentees was the following 

FROM DR. BURWELL. 

Dr. MacNiel: September 29th, 1881. 

Dear Sir : — Please make my profound regrets to the President 
and to the Society that I am not able this evening to attend the 
meeting called to-day. We have, indeed, in the death of Dr. White 
lost the man the most prominent of all our associates, and the one 
who, perhaps, more than any of the rest of us, gave character and 
consideration to the profession of our city. Our loss is certainly 
the greatest we could sustain, and I join you all in keenly bewailing 
his death, in the high estimation we all entertain of his great 
worth, and in the painful sense of personal bereavement which 
must come home to the consciousness and hearts of each and 
every one of us. 

With sincere regards, Gm N> BuRWELL . 

The meeting then adjourned. 



lErte Count? flfceMcal Society. 



A MEETING of the Erie County Medical Society, to take 
action in regard to the death of Professor James P. White, 
was held Friday afternoon, September 30th, at the Medical 
College. The President, Dr. John Hauenstein, being absent 
in Europe, the Vice-President, Dr. T. M. Johnson, assumed 
the Chair, with Dr. A. M. Barker at his post of duty as 
Secretary. The members in attendance were Doctors T. M. 
Johnson, A. M. Barker, D. A. Bailey, S. W. Wetmore, L. P. 
Dayton, Henry Nichell, E. E. Storck, John Cronyn, William 
Ring, Charles A. Ring, Joseph Haberstro, A. H. Crawford, 
F. F. Hoyer of Tonawanda, G. W. Pattison, C. M. Daniels, 
J. E. King, J. B. Coakley, S. H. Warren, E. T. Dorland, 
W. D. Bidaman, R. L. Banta, J. Sloan, H. Kammerling, 
L. F. Harvey, C. W. Harvey, Edward Storck, F. W. Bartlett, 
C. C. Frederick, John Dambach, M. B. Folwell, B. Bartow, 
Joseph Fowler, Mary B. Moody, Mary E. Runner, C. G. 
Stockton, B. H. Grove, C. H. Guess, S. F. Mixer, A. 
Dagenais, A. R. Davidson, M. Hartwig, Joseph W. Keene, 
Lucien Howe, Herman Mynter, C. Diehl, D. W. Harrington, 
F. W. Abbott, D. MacNiel, J. S. Smith, W. C. Phelps, 
E. Clark, W. P. Van Peyma, and E. C. W. O'Brien. 

In announcing the purpose of the special meeting, the 
Chairman said: 

DR. JOHNSON'S REMARKS. 

Gentlemen: —As your presiding officer it becomes my painful duty 
to inform you that the busy reaper, Death, has again visited our 
ranks, and taken from among us one of the noblest, one of the 
best, one of the most illustrious of our members. Dr. James P. 
White died at his residence at ten o'clock on Wednesday night. 
It is unnecessary for me to dwell at length on the many qualities 
of head and heart by which our deceased brother endeared himself 



to all of us. He is gone, and it is fitting that this Society should 
testify in the most proper manner to the sense of loss which is so 
evident on every countenance. I think Dr. White was a member 
of this Society for a longer period than any other one in it, though 
there are some gentlemen here whose hairs are whiter and whose 
years have mounted to a higher number than his. Gentlemen, I 
await your pleasure. 

Dr. A. R. Davidson moved that the Chair appoint a 
committee to draft suitable resolutions expressive of the grief 
of the Society at the death of their late associate. 

The motion prevailed, and the Chair appointed Doctors 
Storck, Cronyn, Fohvell, Dayton and Davidson. During their 
temporary absence from the room, the sentiment of the 
Society found expression in eulogistic utterances. 

Dr. William Ring, an old friend of the deceased, and one 
of the pall bearers appointed by the Society at the request 
of the family of Dr. White, spoke as follows : 

DR. RING'S REMARKS. 

Brethren: — Very suddenly and unexpectedly has death again 
entered our ranks. Most of us were surprised when we learned 
that Dr. White was no more. I should do great injustice to my 
feelings if, on this occasion, I failed to express the thoughts suggested 
by his demise. Thirty-four years ago last March, fifty or sixty young 
men assembled in the building that had been fitted up on the 
corner of Seneca and Washington streets, the site of the present Post 
Office, to hear the introductory lectures to the first course of lec- 
tures delivered in the Medical Department of the University of 
Buffalo. Many of us had attended a course at Geneva the previous 
winter, and had come to Buffalo because a part of the Geneva 
professors lectured here also. The term closed June 16th, 1847. 
Sixteen students graduated, among whom were Dr. James E. King 
and myself. I believe the lectures given here by Doctors Lee, 
Webster, George Hadley, Hamilton, Flint and White were not 
excelled by any of the medical schools of the country. Soon after 
graduating, I heard Professors Gilmore and Bedford of New York 



City, and it was no small praise to say that Dr. White was their 
equal. In 1849 I settled here, and had soon to test in practice the 
lessons taught in the lecture rooms. Dr. White was often called in 
consultation by me, and I always found him a most excellent 
diagnostician and skillful operator. Thirty-two years of practice 
brings to us many trying and dangerous cases. His presence in 
the sick-room was in itself an inspiration. None of us will forget 
his manly and open countenance, his cordial greeting, his short 
and clear questioning, or prompt examinations ; his keen eye, cool, 
clear head, or steady hand. He was not excelled as a general 
practitioner, and was, in early years, a skillful operative surgeon, 
and had all the qualities for excellence in that branch, had he 
pursued it. In the practice of his specialty he introduced and 
popularized one operation that will give him an honorable and 
lasting place in the history of medicine. In the local history of 
Buffalo his name will long be remembered in connection with the 
founding and building of St. John's and Christ Churches, the Church 
Home, the General Hospital, and the State Asylum for the Insane. 
To all of these institutions he gave liberally of his time, and to 
some his money. His professional services were freely and gratui- 
tously given to the poor; he was for years consulting surgeon to 
the General Hospital, and the Buffalo City Dispensary and the 
Eye and Ear Infirmary. He was the attending physician at the 
Lying-in-Hospital on Edward street; for two years he was the med- 
ical superintendent of the Providence Lunatic Asylum. Although 
he was, what most of us are not, a good financier and business man, 
he was a liberal benefactor to the poor. Strong in his attachments, 
and equally strong in his resentments, he was a born leader; more 
than all, he governed himself. It is much to his credit that with 
abundant wealth he was still industrious, pursued his studies and 
practice ; that he shunned the allurements of fashion, appetite and 
intemperance. A most noble example to follow, he is another of the 
many noble men which our country has furnished, who have risen 
to eminence under the fostering influence of our free institutions. 
Thus hath fallen, with his armor on, the Nestor of our profession 
in this city, and none of us are able fill his place. A sense of 
great grief and personal bereavement oppresses me as I think I 
shall see him no more ; that never again shall I see him in the 



representative meetings of our profession ; that no more to com- 
mand our counsel, shall he fight the battle of life, or meet " the 
pestilence that walketh in darkness, or the destruction that wasteth 
at noon day." 

The Committee on Resolutions appeared at the termination 
of Dr. Ring's speech and submitted the following 

RESOLUTIONS : 

Whereas, It has pleased God to remove from among us Dr. James 
P. White, whose career, both professional and otherwise, has been 
one of singular success ; and, 

Whereas, As it has contributed to the renown of the man, so has 
it to this Association, with which he has so long and so honorably 
been connected; 

Whereas, Every member of our Society has had more or less 
intimate acquaintance with our departed friend, and always found 
him courteous, kind and instructive, how much the more is felt the 
loss we have all suffered at his taking off; therefore, be it 

Resolved, That we, with heartfelt sorrow sympathize with the 
bereaved family in their misfortune, and express our great grief at 
the general loss to the medical profession and the community at 
large. 

Resolved, That we attend the funeral in a body. 

Following the unanimous adoption of the resolutions, fur- 
ther remarks were made in the following order : 

DR. HABERSTRO'S REMARKS. 

Gentlemen, by this blow we lose one who has been most illus- 
trious in our ranks. No physician in this city has practiced so long 
or so skillfully as he. The old guard to which he belonged are 
nearly all gone. He was pre-eminent among them. I knew him 
for sixteen years, during part of the time at this college. He was 
always a courteous and helpful friend, sagacious, full of tact, 
ambitious and industrious. These are the qualities that made him 



what he was, our chief. He died at the zenith of his fame, and 
before the infirmities of years had fallen heavily upon him. 

DR. STORCK'S REMARKS. 

While still grieving, as American citizens, over the loss of a 
loved and trusted Chief Magistrate, we of the Erie County Medical 
Society are called upon to weep afresh for another great man, for 
one who, though not so illustrious, will yet be missed by the citizens 
of Buffalo with almost as keen regret. He was a citizen of Buffalo, 
and we all recognize the fact that a great man has gone from 
among us. Dr. White's character may be summed up by saying 
that he was well-meaning, patriotic, energetic, kind, noble. He held 
as high a place as can be held by any physician, being known to 
medical and scientific fame not only in this city and State, but 
throughout the country and in foreign lands. His name is enrolled 
upon the topmost lists of successful physicians. As a citizen he 
gave his services, his heart and his help to whatever promised to 
best promote the interests of the city. Some of the institutions 
which he founded are destined to form part of the history of the 
city, and no insignificant part either. With his energy and means 
he built up this College of Medicine, of which we can be justly 
proud, and to which we need not be ashamed to point when away 
from home. His good deeds and exalted reputation will stay forever 
green in our memories, and will last longer than any monument 
of stone. 

The meeting adjourned after deciding to meet in a body 
at a quarter before two o'clock, Saturday afternoon, October 
ist, in the Sunday-school room of Trinity Church, whence 
they will proceed to the Church. 



Hction of tbe Hlumnl 

IMMEDIATELY after the adjournment of the Erie County 
Medical Society, the members resolved themselves into a 
meeting of the Alumni Association of the Buffalo Medical 
College, most of those present being members of both 
organizations. Dr. W. C. Barrett, Chairman of the Ex- 
ecutive Committee, presided, and Dr. A. M. Barker dis- 
charged the duties of Secretary. By a unanimous vote the 
following resolutions were adopted : 

Whereas, The unexpected removal by death of Dr. James P. 
White, crushing as is the blow to his medical co-laborers and his 
immediate associates, falls with additional weight upon us who for 
years sat under his teachings, and to whom he was not only the 
professional counselor and adviser, and the warm personal friend, 
but the revered preceptor, the faithful master under whose wise 
discipline we received our professional schooling, and were armed 
for our life's combat with disease and suffering; and, 

Whereas, This Association in his death lost one of its warmest 
friends and most powerful supporters, one who was not only active 
in its foundation, but whose watchful care and friendly aid was 
never lacking when in the past and early history of the Association 
such kindly offices were at times sorely needed ; and 

Whereas, Our beloved Alma Mater has in his death sustained a 
blow well nigh irreparable, and must long suffer by this removal of 
her chief support; therefore, 

Resolved, That we, the members of the Alumni Association of the 
Medical Department of the University of Buffalo, deeply deplore 
the loss of Professor James P. White, and that it is not in obedi- 
ence to mere formality, but as the promptings of hearts sore with 
the sense of great personal loss, that we seek this method to 
express our respect, our veneration, our love for the memory of one 
who was ever so tender, so considerate with his juniors in a pro- 



tession in which he himself was so distinguished, and which he so 
graced and honored. 

Resolved, That this Association, as a poor mark of its appreciation 
of the loss which it has sustained in the death of Professor White, 
will place in the professorial room lately occupied by him at the 
College and on his lecture stand in the amphitheatre an appropriate 
mourning badge, and that we will attend his funeral in a body. 

Resolved, That to our Alma Mater, so sadly bereft, we tender our 
renewed expressions of love and confidence, and pledge ourselves 
by the increased devotion of her sons and daughters to do all that 
is possible by way of compensation for this great, this irremediable 
loss. 

Resolved, That to the immediate members of his family, and to 
his associate teachers in the Buffalo Medical College, we tender our 
condolence and the assurance that while with them we mourn our 
loss, we are yet thankful that we have the stimulus of his successful 
efforts and the example of his generous and noble life. 

Resolved, That a copy of this preamble and these resolutions be 
entered upon the minutes of the Association; that one be trans- 
mitted to the family of Professor White, and another to the Secretary 
of the Faculty of the College. 

Addresses of eulogy from graduates of the College being 
next in order, Dr. W. C. Barrett took the floor and said : 

dr. Barrett's remarks. 

I desire to affirm that it is not while standing beneath the shadow 
of his coffin that we, the Alumni of Buffalo College, first become 
sensible of the worth of Professor White. We have too often 
listened to his wise teachings, too often been the recipients of his 
sage counsels, too often witnessed instances of his careful watch 
over us as students, and his anxious supervision of the launching 
of our professional bark, not to have valued him as something more 
than a professional senior. That he was a faithful teacher needs 
not to be asseverated here among his old pupils. Had his solicitude 
ended with the close of the term of pupilage of each student, his 
care and watchfulness ceased with the delivery of the diploma bearing 



his signature which each of us has received, we could then have 
said he did his duty faithfully. But every worthy graduate of this 
College knows that Professor White's jealous care for his pupils 
closed only when, last Tuesday night, he yielded up his latest breath. 
Every one of us has, not always to his own knowledge, received 
evidences of the careful concern with which in life the honored 
dead kept watch over our professional career. We all remember 
how in the lecture-room he patiently strove with our oftentimes per- 
plexing lack of comprehension. We all remember how kindly we 
were welcomed to his room, and given ample share of time, every 
moment of which had its money value, and how patiently he 
explained the abstruse things of medical science, so mystical to us, 
so manifest to him. Speak, fellow-students! Did the faithful teacher 
ever turn away his ear, or exhibit impatience at your inquiries? 

Professor White dead! That splendid physique laid low in the 
dust ? That clear, ringing voice forever hushed in death ? The 
mind recoils from the thought. We know, for we are so told, that 
within the walls of that home — so familiar to graduates of these 
later years — there lies his poor, inanimate corse ; that across the 
peaceful breast, once the home of so many generous impulses, lie 
folded those deft fingers that in life could so skillfully guide the 
scalpel or the probang ; yet though to our reason this is revealed, our 
consciousness refuses to admit the fact, and even now we are 
prompted to look around for the well-remembered face. 

Dr. White gone ! What to us is it that Buffalo has lost her dis- 
tinguished citizen ? That medicine is bereft of her illustrious son ; 
that society is deprived of one of her brightest ornaments ; that 
the Church will miss one of her most faithful supporters ; that the 
poor, the miserable, and the unfortunate, the suffering children of 
disease and want, aye, even of crime, are stricken in his death ! 
To us, at this moment, comes home the sharp sense of personal 
loss. He who was faithful in reproving our shortcomings, was equally 
ready to assist us to a better and a higher conception. He to 
whom we have looked for guidance over a perhaps yet untrodden, 
or unfamiliar and strange path, is gone, and upon whose arm shall 
we henceforth lean? The very sternness of the reproof which per- 
haps some of us, to our present sorrow remember, we can now see 
was evoked by the kindliness of his heart, and the anxiety of his 



interest for our welfare, and how shall we now show him that his 
solicitude was not wasted? 

Well may we, the children of his professional care, cry out in 
the anguish of our hearts, alas, alas ! our father ! Alas, alas ! for 
Alma Mater! who shall fill his chair? Who shall attempt to supply 
the vacant place? Whoever he may be, and whatever he may 
prove to future generations of students, he cannot be to us, who 
have already gone out from beneath the sheltering walls of this 
institution, the aegis, the guardian, the guide which our dead teacher 
and friend has ever been. 

But while we weep, we rejoice that he has been. We are grateful 
that it was our lot to receive his words of wisdom. We are thankful 
that we too are inheritors of a name which exhales so sweet a 
fragrance that the perfume will linger with us to our latest day. 
We will cherish his precepts. We will exhibit our regard for him 
by an increased love for our Alma Mater, which he was so actively 
instrumental in founding and supporting. We will keep his memory 
green in our hearts, and as we strive to cherish and perpetuate 
whatever of good we owe to him, and to make subservient to our 
fellow-men the knowledge and skill with which our beloved teacher 
armed us, so shall we build to him a monument higher than 
Egyptian pyramids, and more enduring than graven brass. 

"And the stately ships go on 
To their haven under the hill. 
But oh, for the touch of a vanished hand, 
And the sound of a voice that is still." 

Dr. C. M. Daniels then addressed the Alumni, as follows: 

DR. DANIELS' REMARKS. 

I have listened with great respect and feeling to the earnest ex- 
pressions of sorrow by the older members of the profession upon 
the death of our revered and honored friend, Dr. James P. White. 
From their remembrances of his earlier career to the present week 
he has been pre-eminently acknowledged as the friend of the young 
physician, and as such I cannot let this opportunity pass without 
adding one little tribute of respect as an additional stone in the 
erection of his memorial edifice. His constant life work has been 



for the best interests of his profession. We have looked up to him 
as a child to a father, and his valued advice and wise counsels 
were every ready at our command. My associations with him for 
the past three years have been of the most intimate character, and 
personally I esteemed him above all other men, and I believe I 
have the honor of being the last of the young practitioners to 
receive his instruction and assist him in his last operation, which 
no doubt hastened the beginning of the end. 

His persevering character is well known. He never stepped back- 
ward, and many times he has said to me, "Whatever you undertake, 
carry through to the end." 

No man in our city could be more greatly missed. No one can 
fill his place. Ripe with the experience of many years, he died at 
the zenith of his fame. Truly here has fallen "one of nature's 
greatest noblemen." 

DR. SAMUEL H. WARREN 

testified to the high appreciation felt for Dr. White among 
students. He said that the Professor had an inspiring influ- 
ence in his classes. He was not only affable and kind, but 
had a remarkable power of imparting his almost limitless 
professional learning. In the class-room he was unsurpass- 
able as an instructor, while his manners were pleasant and 
attractive. It seemed sad that he should have passed away, 
and that the immense learning he had stored away should 
be lost. Dr. Warren particularly dwelt upon the amiable 
traits of character disclosed by Dr. White. 

The meeting then adjourned. 



action of tbe Ibospital Staff. 

THE medical staff of the Buffalo General Hospital held a 
meeting at the residence of Dr. J. F. Miner, on Main 
street, last evening, to take action on the death of Dr. James 
P. White. There were present, Doctors Miner, Diehl, Phelps, 
Wyckoff and Burwell. The latter was called to the Chair 
and made a few remarks concerning the deceased. The fol- 
lowing resolutions were unanimously adopted : 

Whereas, Death has suddenly removed from our companionship 
Professor James P. White, M. D., one of the oldest and most 
trusted members of the Consulting Board of the medical staff of 
the Buffalo General Hospital, thus bringing to us, his friends and 
associates, great personal grief and bereavement, and also to the 
institution he has so faithfully and successfully served, irreparable 
loss ; therefore, 

Resolved, That in the death of Dr~ White the Buffalo General 
Hospital is deprived of a most efficient, wise and influential friend 
and supporter, and we, the members of its medical staff, an experi- 
enced, learned and trustworthy adviser, whose wise and judicious 
counsel has ever been to us an unfailing source of strength and 
support. 

Resolved, That in the sad and mysterious providence which has 
so unexpectedly brought to a close this long and honorable life, so 
full of usefulness, and so largely devoted to the interests of the 
poor and sick, we see how uncertain are all the schemes of earthly 
ambition, but how that an earnest life may be crowned with their 
complete fulfillment. 

Resolved, That in this time of grief and affliction, we extend to 
the wife and family of our respected and worthy co-laborer a deep 
and heartfelt sympathy which we have no words to express. 

Resolved, That our Secretary be requested to furnish a copy of 
these resolutions to the family of the deceased, and also to the 
medical and daily press of the city for publication ; and that they 
be preserved in the records of the Buffalo General Hospital. 



action of tbe pharmaceutical association. 



A SPECIAL MEETING of the Erie County Pharmaceu- 
tical Association was held at the rooms in the Young 
Men's Christian Association Building, yesterday afternoon, 
and it was attended by many of the representative druggists 
of the city. The object of the meeting was to take appro- 
priate action on the death Dr. James P. White. Remarks 
were made by Messrs. A. R. Davidson, Julius Rieffenstahl, 
J. P. Diehl, and others. The following preamble and reso- 
lutions were unanimously adopted: 

While it has pleased an all-wise Creator to call from this life 
Dr. James P. White, we, the members of the Erie County Pharma- 
ceutical Association, feel it our solemn duty to express our feelings 
of respect for him in his life, and our sincere regret at his death ; 
therefore, 

Resolved, That we, as pharmacists and members of the Erie 
County Pharmaceutical Association, have experienced a loss in the 
death of Professor James P. White, second only to that endured by 
the medical profession, and that we offer our heartfelt expressions 
of sympathy to the widow and family of our late friend. 

Resolved, That the members of the Association attend the funeral 
in a body. 

Resolved, That these resolutions be entered upon the minutes of 
the Association, and that a copy of the same be transmitted to the 
family of our deceased friend and to the press of the city. 



Gbe Buffalo Club. 

A MEETING of the Board of Directors of the Buffalo 
Club was held Saturday evening, October 1st, the First 
Vice-President, Mr. Josiah Jewett, in the Chair. On calling 
the meeting to order, Mr. Jewett spoke as follows : 

Gentlemen: — At this time of general public sorrow, not only in 
this country but also in every part of the civilized world, caused 
by the death of President Garfield, it devolves upon me to 
announce to you that death has entered into our presence- — into 
our home — and taken away our beloved and respected friend and 
associate, Dr. James P. White, President of this Board. This is 
the first time in the history of the Buffalo Club that its highest 
officer has been removed by death. It therefore seems eminently 
proper that this evening we should only take such action as will 
commemorate the fact and pay suitable respect to the memory of 
our lamented President. 

On motion, a committee of two was appointed to prepare 
suitable resolutions, consisting of Mr. Sheldon T. Viele to 
represent the Board and Hon. Harmon S. Cutting to repre- 
sent the Club. 

The committee, after consultation, presented the following 

memorial : 

Died on the 28th day of September, instant, at his residence, in 
this city, Dr. James P. White, President of this Club. 

For the first time in the history of our institution its chief officer 
and head has been removed by death. In view of this sad 
occurrence and of the eminent character of the deceased, it is 
peculiarly fitting that the Club take proper notice of this, the 
lamented departure of our friend. 

Dn White was a man of mark in many respects. His great 
eminence and skill in his profession have been attested not only 



by the eloquent and truthful utterances of his professional brethren, 
but by a long career of almost exceptional success. Our citizens 
may take a just pride in that page of their history which shall 
contain the record of his high and justly deserved reputation. 

As a citizen our departed friend was no less entitled to the high 
esteem of his fellows. A citizen here from the very creation of 
our municipality, he had ever been conspicuous in whatever could 
promote its advancement and prosperity. At once wise, prudent 
and enterprising, he has left behind him, in characters which will 
not soon be effaced, the impress of his robust and upright character. 

In all his relations with his fellow-men he was ever the dignified, 
kind and courteous gentleman, and none could more fully appreciate 
this than the members of this Club. His impressive form, his 
genial smile and pleasant words of greeting will long be remembered 
among us; and we record this memorial as an expression of our 
sorrow and as an evidence of an appreciation of the greatness of 
the loss we have sustained in his death. 

It was then unanimously resolved that the memorial be 
adopted as read ; that it be entered upon the records of the 
Club ; that a copy be transmitted to the family, and the 
Directors' room be suitably draped for thirty days. After 
which, the meeting adjourned. 



Gbe Cburcb 1bome, 



IN MEMORIAM. 

ENTERED into life on the 28th day of September, 1881, James 
P. White, President of the Charity Foundation of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church in the city of Buffalo. 

The Board of Managers, assembled in special session, place on 
record their grateful sense of appreciation of the labors of the late 
President as manager from the incorporation of the Foundation in 
1858; for seven years its President, and at all times one of its 
most liberal benefactors ; and we also bear witness to the irrepar- 
able loss sustained by the Church in this city in the direction, 
support, and management of its special field of charity committed 
to our charge. 

This institution, which has extended its care and protection over 
hundreds of fatherless children and provided the blessings of a 
home to the aged, is in itself a fitting expression of this living faith 
in the system of practical charity which it is the purpose of the 
Foundation to foster and encourage, and of his earnest and con- 
tinued sympathy in its behalf. 

We record the inestimable value of his sagacious counsel in 
periods of great financial embarrassment, and gratefully acknowledge 
that to his ripe experience and judgment we are indebted for the 
present prosperous condition of the Foundation in all its varied 
interests. 

We recall the bright hopes he often expressed of its future, and 
his anticipations that at an early day structures commensurate with 
the needs and importance of our work, the dignity of the Church, 
and the wealth of our growing city, would be erected. 

We are indebted chiefly to his efforts for the liquidation of the 
heavy financial burdens which until a recent period crippled the 
work in which his affections were so actively enlisted, and also for 
the establishment of an endowment fund, which it was his earnest 



desire to foster and augment, until the institution could be placed 
on a permanent and self-sustaining basis and made equal to the 
demands of the Church in this city. 

The improvement in the internal interests of the Foundation by 
the introduction of deaconesses is largely due to his co-operation 
and sympathy. 

Recognizing the deep weight of obligation to which his long and 
active relations with the Foundation has placed us, we join in 
expressions of devout gratitude to Almighty God that this servant 
of the Church was spared to the allotted age of man to minister, 
for the Master's sake, to the poor and the needy, the sick and the 
dying, and at the close to give a noble record of his steward- 
ship. 

Thos. Lothrop, 
James E. Ford, 
Theodore F. Welch. 



[From Church Home Quarterly, January, 1882.] 

3n fIDemortam, 

It becomes our sad duty to chronicle the death of the 
President of our Board of Managers, Dr. James P. White. 
So much has already been said and written in this vicinity 
upon this social loss to our community — and in the official 
action of this Board upon the loss which it has suffered in 
the death of its President — that it seems almost * presump- 
tuous on our part to add anything either of encomium or 
regret to what has been so often and ably said before. Yet 
it would not be fitting that the official organ of the Church 
Home should not make record of the painful loss it has 
sustained in the death of this distinguished man. A member 
of the Board from its beginning — and for many recent years 
President — he has labored unceasingly for the interests of 



the Charity, and had the proud satisfaction of seeing its 
affairs assume a most prosperous shape through his unwearied 
efforts. The numerous articles which have appeared in the 
columns of the city papers, as well as the editorials and 
obituaries of the medical journals, giving the history of his 
professional life, and expressing the great loss which society 
and his profession have suffered in his death, sufficiently 
testify that he has not lived in vain. Dying as he did from 
over exertion and zeal in the practice of his healing art, he 
gave up his life, as he would have surely wished to do, 
while his skill would be missed, and his energy longed for — 
dying literally in the harness. It was touching, indeed, to 
be present at the family residence on those sad days imme- 
diately following his decease, and see the grief, and listen to 
the many expressions of sorrow and regret, spoken over the 
manly form which lay there so grand yet helpless in its 
hushed repose. 

To the young men of his profession he was always a kind 
and sympathizing friend, and their sorrow is well attested in 
the resolutions passed by the Alumni of the Medical College. 
Says the obituary in the " Buffalo Medical and Surgical 
Journal :" 

"Not many men have been more earnest, unremitting workers 
than Dr. White, and few have reaped a more abundant harvest, for 
he gathered into his garners fame, wealth, and high social position, 
as the well-earned reward of many years' toil." 

We find in the memorial of Dr. E. N. Brush : 

" He was not alone active in his profession, but as one has said 
in writing of him, 'An ample sketch of his life would be a history 
of the medical profession in Buffalo for the last half century — nay, 
almost a history of the city itself, for there have been few import- 
ant public questions or enterprises since the corporation was estab- 
lished in which he did not become more or less interested.' He 
was a prominent and active member of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church, and for years President of the Church Charity Foundation, 



an institution which owes much of its present stability to his man- 
a^ement *?■ -'flS "•_%■%*."*,#_## # 

"Thus passed from our profession one of its most brilliant orna- 
ments. With a character which would have won laurels in any- 
field of endeavor, he was content to pass his life in the earnest, 
active pursuit of his profession. In his calling, it is true he won 
position and wealth, but at the expense of work, for which few 
physicians of the present day possess the vigor. Whatever he 
undertook he carried to its fulfillment. He possessed determination 
and the courage of his convictions — a courage which consisted in 
an ' equality to the problem before him • * * * equality to 
the problem in affairs, in science, in trade, in council or in action.' 

"The product of a hardier experience and a more simple train- 
ing than those of the present day, we shall seldom look upon his 
like again. He achieved Emerson's definition of a great man, 'he 
is great who is what he is from nature, and who never reminds us 
of others." 

But when all is said, we sadly bury alike our grief and 
commendations in the grave, which is the end of all things 
earthly. 

There is but one comfort in these sad losses which come 
day by day, and week by week, until it seems a whole gen- 
eration is passing out of sight down the road from whence 
is no returning — that this short life, which is only for the 
moment, leadeth to one eternal, unchangeable and full of 
glory, for all who have faithfully fulfilled their duties here. 

"From glory unto glory! 

Thank God that even here 
The starry words are shining out 
Our heavenward wav to cheer ! " 



TTlnivereit? of Buffalo, 

THE regular annual meeting of the Council of the Univer- 
sity of Buffalo was held at the Young Men's Association 
Rooms, at 4 o'clock, P. M., February 21st, 1882, when the 
following proceedings were had : 

Present— The Hon. O. H. Marshall, President of the 
Council; the Hon. E. G. Spaulding, Thomas F. Rochester, 
M. D., Charles Cary, M. D., and Messrs. John Wilkeson, 
George S. Hazard, George E. Hayes, John D. Shepard, 
David Gray, James Hollister and James N. Matthews. 

The meeting was called to order by the President. On 
motion of Dr. Cary, the reading of the minutes of the last 
meeting was dispensed with. 

The Secretary then read the following : 

Whereas, By the death of Dr. James P. White, one of the 
founders of our University, and a member of the Board, this Insti- 
tution has lost one of its ablest councillors and most zealous 
supporters. 

Whereas, We are largely indebted to his persevering effort for the 
establishment of our Medical Department, and its growth to its 
present flourishing condition has been greatly promoted through his 
instrumentality. 

Resolved, That we recognize with just pride the eminent profes- 
sional abilities of the deceased, by which he acquired a national 
reputation, and we sympathize with his family, with his professional 
brethren, and with his survivors in the Medical Department in their 
common loss. 

Resolved, That we deem it due to the memory of our associate, 
at the close of his honorable career, to bear testimony to his 
private worth and unsullied reputation. His marked decision of 



character and tenacity of purpose were strongly impressed on his 
public duties, and beneficially felt in the various benevolent and 
Christian enterprises in which tie engaged. 

Resolved, That these resolutions be transmitted to the family and 
published in the daily city papers. 



Buffalo fIDeoical College. 

The 28th day of September, 188 1, must ever remain an era of 
most memorable sadness in the annals of the Buffalo Medical 
College. On that day the demise of Professor James P. White 
broke a relation which nothing else could have effected. To him 
more than to any one person is the Institution indebted for its 
present and past prosperity. To his untiring industry and executive 
ability of exceptional power, this is largely due. We mourn other 
dead, whose interest was no less, but whose shorter connection with 
the College gave fewer opportunities of aid. Moreover, he alone 
was present at its birth and watched over its life while his own 
remained. 

Possessed of remarkable judgment, of untiring energy and of 
inspiring zeal, he always assumed a prominent part in all affairs 
with which he was connected, but his strongest and deepest affec- 
tion was centered in the University of which he was one of the 
founders, and for which he had aims and ambitions to greatly 
extend and enlarge, not only in medicine, but also in all the 
departments granted to it by Charter. For these reasons be it, 

Resolved, That this testimony of the surviving colleagues of Pro- 
fessor James P. White be placed upon the records of the Institution, 
and a copy be transmitted to his family. 



IRew J))ork Hcabemp of fIDebicine, 

AT a stated meeting of the New York Academy of Med- 
icine, held October 6th, 1881, Professor Austin Flint, 
«M. D., offered the annexed resolutions, which were unani- 
mously adopted, and prefaced same with the following 

REMARKS : 

Mr. President, I rise to offer some resolutions on the occa- 
sion of the recent death of Professor James P. White, one 
of the Honorary Fellows of this Academy. I should do 
injustice to my feelings if I did not preface the resolutions 
by some remarks on the life of one to whom I have held 
the relation of intimate friendship for nearly half a century, 
although fully sensible that this is not the appropriate time 
to attempt to do justice to his memory. 

The late Professor White was in many points of view a 
remarkable man. Intellectually he was highly endowed, and 
to his superior intellectual powers were added in an unusual 
degree, energy of character, together with decision and per- 
severance. To these mental qualities, conjoined with a 
vigorous constitution, he was indebted for a measure of pro- 
fessional success, as a practitioner and a teacher, which falls 
to the lot of but few members of our profession. He com- 
menced his medical studies after attaining a good preliminary 
education. He was a zealous student in medicine, and never 
relinquished habits of study. But his professional career was 
eminently practical. His chief aim was to apply in practice 
and to teach successfully the principles of medicine, but 
particularly in the department to which he was specially 
devoted, and to originate practical improvements. He was 
a skillful practitioner and an efficient teacher. He contributed 
important additions to the practice of midwifery, and to the 
treatment of certain of the diseases of women. Among the 



latter I may mention the retroversion of the inverted uterus, 
when this condition had existed many years; and if I mistake 
not, he is entitled to the credit of originality in the successful 
treating of these diseases. Professor White was one of the 
founders of the Medical School in Buffalo. It is not too 
much to say that the establishment and success of that 
flourishing institution were in a great measure due to his 
exertions. He was always zealous in promoting the interests 
of medical education. The Hospitals and other institutions 
for medical relief in the city of Buffalo owe much to his 
efforts in their behalf. He was mainly instrumental in the 
location and completion in that city of the State Insane 
Asylum, which has recently gone into operation. Nor were 
his labors for the public welfare restricted to objects pertain- 
ing to medicine. He was pre-eminently a public spirited 
citizen. Most of the charitable organizations in Buffalo are 
more or less indebted to his aid, by counsel and active 
agency, for their welfare. He was prompt to lead in sanitary 
measures. He had a deep interest in the prosperity of the 
religious denomination with which he was connected, and 
one of the largest and finest of the church edifices in Buffalo 
would probably not have been erected without his efforts. 
It should be added, that although a zealous member of the 
Episcopal Church, he was devoid of bigotry, and full of 
sympathy with other Christian organizations. A remarkable 
feature in his character was his excellent judgment in matters 
of business and general polity. His advice was sought after 
and relied upon by many in all sorts of affairs, and it was 
always readily given. He was strong and constant in his 
friendships. They who had any claim to be ranked among 
his friends were confident of obtaining his wise counsels in 
every trouble. Nothing gave him greater gratification than to 
place his services at the command of his professional brethren. 
He was warm and sincere in his domestic and social relations. 
His was emphatically a happy home, in which he was always 
glad to dispense an unbounded hospitality. A large and 



lucrative practice, conjoined with prudence and sagacity, 
enabled him to accumulate wealth. He was remarkable in 
this result of his labors, but his wealth was not acquired by 
an unworthy use of opportunities, nor by niggardness of 
husbandry, nor by any dishonorable means. As an instance 
of his generosity, I will refer to an incident known to some 
but probably not to all of those present. In 1870, when 
Professor George T. Elliot was stricken with paralysis, the 
late Dr. Foster Swift was appointed to deliver the course of 
Lectures on Obstetrics in the Bellevue Hospital Medical 
College. Dr. Swift's health failed, so that at the commence- 
ment of the term it was considered best that he should seek 
a more genial climate. In this emergency, Professor White 
consented to give the course, and did so greatly to the satis- 
faction of the class and the Faculty. The fees for the 
course he relinquished of his own accord for the benefit of 
his friend Elliot, and he declined the offer of the Faculty 
to assume the expenses of his residence in New York dur- 
ing the delivery of the lectures. In order that this act of 
generosity might not be misconstrued, he stated in consent- 
ing to give the course, that nothing but death could discon- 
nect him from the city with which he was identified and 
from the Medical School of which he was one of the 
founders. The departure of such a man from this life is a 
grievous loss to those who enjoyed his friendship. To the 
medical profession the loss is great. It will be deeply felt in 
the community in which he lived. To his family it is irre- 
parable. They must, however, derive much consolation in 
the reflection that to him was vouchsafed a long career 
of honor and usefulness, that he was spared a painful and 
lingering illness, and that his memory is enshrined in many 
loving hearts. 

RESOLUTIONS. 

Resolved, That in the death of the late Professor James P. White, 
the New York Academy of Medicine mourns the loss of an 



esteemed Honorary Fellow, and the medical profession has lost a 
distinguished and useful member. 

Resolved, That the Fellows of the Academy tender to the widow 
of their late associate, and to the other members of his family, 
their heartfelt sympathy in the irreparable loss which they have 
sustained. 

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Academy be instructed to 
transmit a copy of these resolutions to Mrs. White. 

EDWIN F. WARD, M, D., 

Recording Secretary. 



Zbc (^narcological Society of Boston. 



AT the last regular meeting of the Society, Dr. H. R. Storer 
offered the following resolution, which it was unanimously 
voted should be forwarded as expressive of the sense of loss 
we have experienced in the death of Dr. White : 

Resolved, That the Gynaecological Society of Boston has learned 
with deep sorrow of the death of its honorary associate, Professor 
James P. White, M. D., of Buffalo. 

Resolved, That this Society communicate, through its President 
and Secretary, to the widow of Professor White, the sympathy of its 
members in her affliction, their personal sense of bereavement and 
their lasting respect for the memory of the deceased. 

WM. G. WHEELER, 

President. 
HENRY M. FIELDS, 

Secretary. 



Bellevue Iboepital fIDebtcal College, 

THE Faculty of the Bellevue Hospital Medical College, 
desirous of expressing their sentiments in relation to the 
services of Professor James P. White, in behalf of the Col- 
lege during the session of 1870-71, unanimously adopted, 
April 4th, 1 87 1, the following resolutions: 

Resolved, That the Faculty were particularly favored in being able 
to secure the services of so eminent a teacher and practitioner as 
Professor James P. White, when the College was deprived of the 
services of their late lamented colleague, Professor George T. 
Elliot. 

Resolved, That the lectures given by Professor White in the 
Bellevue Hospital Medical College were characterized by great 
learning, the practical knowledge derived from large experience, 
zealous exertions to render his instruction as useful as possible, 
and an efficiency showing peculiar ability and qualifications as a 
public teacher. These characteristics were fully appreciated by the 
class, who received his lectures with gratitude and enthusiasm. 

Resolved, That in refusing to receive compensation for his lectures, 
relinquishing the fees to Professor Elliot, Professor White exempli- 
fied a spirit of sympathy and generosity which is deserving of 
emulation. 

Resolved, That the Faculty will ever cherish the remembrance of 
their pleasant intercourse with Professor White during his residence 
in New York, and they most cordially tender wishes for his welfare 
and for a long duration of his active usefulness. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be properly engrossed, 
attested, and bearing the College seal be transmitted to Professor 
White. 

ISAAC E. TAYLOR, M. D., 

President. 

AUSTIN FLINT, Jr., M. D., 

Secretary. 



Bellevue Ibospital (IDeMcal College. 

AT a special meeting of the Students of Bellevue Hospital 
Medical College of the Class of 1870-71, held at the 
College, December 27th, 1870, the following preamble and 
resolutions were unanimously adopted : 

Whereas, By the illness of our esteemed Professor of Obstetrics, 
Dr. George T. Elliot, we have been temporarily deprived of his 
teachings ; and, 

Whereas, Professor James P. White, of Buffalo, in a spirit of 
self-sacrificing generosity has consented to occupy the chair of 
Professor Elliot, thus enabling the latter to recover his strength, 
expended in the duties of his profession, and largely in behalf of 
the College ; therefore, 

Resolved, That the Class of Bellevue Hospital Medical College 
for the session of 1870-71 do hereby testify to Professor James P. 
White their appreciation of his courtesy and generosity towards a 
professional brother. 

Resolved, That the Class desire to express their great satisfaction 
with the able and efficient lectures on Obstetrics delivered by Pro- 
fessor White during the session of 1870-71. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be prepared and pre- 
sented to Professor White in the name of the Class of Bellevue 
Hospital Medical College. 

ROBERT TAYLOR, 
WILL. C. SHAW, 
DAVID M. McMASTERS, 

Committee. 



Zbe Buffalo State Helium for tbe Jneane, 

AT a special meeting of the Board of Managers, held on 
Saturday, October 1st, 1881, the following resolutions, 
offered by Mr. Potter, were unanimously adopted : 

Resolved, That the Board of Managers of the Buffalo State Asylum 
for the Insane, desiring to render their tribute of respect to the 
memory of their late President, now resting from the labors of life, 
do place upon record their acknowledgment of his important services 
to the State and the city of his home during his long connection 
with this humanitarian institution. 

Resolved, That the location and erection of this great State Asylum 
in our midst are due, to a large extent, to the exertions of Dr. 
James P. White, who has ever evinced great interest in its opera- 
tions, and given largely of his personal attention to the details of 
its management. 

Resolved, That we tender our heartfelt sympathy to the family of 
our friend and late associate. 

Dr. Gray, in seconding the adoption of the resolutions, paid 
an eloquent tribute to the memory of his deceased friend, 
whom he had known intimately for many years. He was 
the peer of any man in his special department of the pro- 
fession, and it was no compliment to say that he had no 
superior — it was a fact, and simple justice. The interest he 
felt in all public enterprises is well known to his fellow- 
citizens here, and he will be missed from their councils much 
more than they now realize. 



[From Galignani's Messenger, Paris, France, October 28th, 



DR. JAMES P. WHITE, who died at Buffalo, at the age 
of seventy, was one of the oldest, ablest, and most 
successful practitioners of the State of New York. His pro- 
fessional education was acquired at Fairfield (N. Y.), Philadel- 
phia, Edinburgh, Paris and Vienna. He was one of the movers 
in establishing the Buffalo Medical College, and was an 
active participant in the various charitable institutions with 
which Buffalo has been so liberally endowed. Dr. White 
was distinguished in the literature of his profession as well 
as in the lecture-room, and also in the Episcopal Church, of 
which he had long been a useful and devoted member. 
From youth to venerable age his life was without spot or 
blemish. He was a descendant of Peregrine White, the first 
male child born in the " Mayflower " colony. 



[From Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, January 23, 1882. 



©eatb of flDrs, James p. Wbite, 

HPHE recent death of Dr. James P. White is closely followed 
*■ by the decease of his widow, Mary Elizabeth Penfield 
White. The afflicted family and friends of the lamented 
lady were not unprepared for this melancholy event, as the 
end came this morning after a somewhat prolonged illness 
which could only have had a fatal termination. Mrs. White 
held for many years an honored place in the society of 
Buffalo, and the announcement of her death will be received 
with sorrow by a very wide circle of friends. The recent 
loss of her life-long companion and devoted husband was a 
painful blow, which undoubtedly accelerated her own untimely 
decease. 



MM 

Hff 



ft. 






m 



Haaf Reel 






■H 









■■mm 

!|Bgw 

aEaf 



SB 



Ha 









HI H 

9 



Ills 

■ 

■31 



■ 



gttgf&l^ BOH 

JH ■ 

Bull 

Bn I 



■HI 






BB ■ 



X2 









■ 



% 



■ 

1 






HE 






mm 



m 



■H 



Si 



